North Vancouver's own political BLOG dedicated to North Vancouver's political players and the decisions that shape our community.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

It's a beautiful sunny day to Vote in North Vancouver!

This post is from Ron Polly.

Good morning everyone

A fine day and I hope this is the largest turnout ever.

Carson and I have run a very frugal campaign. We are at about $1,000.00 total. He is running mostly to get the under 30 crowd out. To let them know they do have a voice. To make a difference. The response to his passion and honesty has been over whelming. He has been asked by a lot of people to run again. I am sure he will. We are both very proud of him.

This has been an eye opening experience for both of us. I have found out that we have truly let money take over the municipal election. This is our home and we have sold it for a flashy ads and lots of ugly posters with 15 year old pictures on them.

One of the biggest compliments I have had is how many people said they do not vote but after reading what I have said they will be. That is great to hear. Mostly from the under thirty crowd.

What happens today we have to all work with for three years. Some of the decisions made by this future council will be with us longer than that.

I hope this council to be elected makes is a maverick council. The City of North Vancouver can set an example.

We can move forward on changes to how elections are held here. Place a cap on election spending and contributions from any one source.

Stop the sale of what is called surplus lands by the School District. To not rezone them to high density to be sold off to a developer who made the correct choice on whom to back in this election. I can not believe selling of these properties will not bite future generation in the ass.

Housing for seniors and people with dementia so they never have to be moved off some were as the level of care changes. We have the resources and the people to make this happen. Let us not wait for the provincial government to act. We can show them how it is done.

Actively work with all municipalities to move our recreational facilities forward to be the envy of Metro Vancouver. The more we have access to the healthier or citizens will be. They do not all have to be built now but we do need to secure the lands. That goes right back to not selling off our land bank.

Animals are a common bond. We have no participation in a true refuge for them. It is coldly contracted out and it is long overdue for all three municipalities to have one large communal shelter. This would promote not only the well being of animals but in each other. It would be the start of a true connection of the three. A world class sanctuary would attract visitors wanting to spend time there. There is no wildlife rescue on the North Shore. This also could be included and again be a place for people to be volunteer.

Work at getting more events and business to come here.

Review the early public input process. To make sure that citizens are on the same playing field as those who now have a little too much influence in city hall.

Transparency and public input to be put ahead of all else. Public task forces over multimillion dollar studies.

These are just a few on my wish list. I will be looking with anticipation to see if the next council puts density or duty first.

I wish all who ran good luck today. I think we have lots of good people and some new stars on the rise.

Today I will be taking advantage of the dry weather and working on my driveway. The sand is packed and it is time to start getting those pavers in or I will be laying them on snow it seems.

Looking forward to Sunday then my next big challenge is about to start.

22 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Good luck to all the candidates today, and thank you for running. Here's hoping the new Council will be truly independent, and the City of North Van will not continue to be sold out to the developers. Way too much behind the scenes stuff going on. Here's hoping for positive leadership for a change.

The Mayor's slate and their supporters were spotted this afternoon doing a last minute get out the vote push. Wonder if the results of those phone polls left too much uncertainty about the outcome. With so many viable choices, plumping and vote splitting will play a role. Four hours til the polls close. Does anyone have info on the voter turnout so far at specific polling stations?

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